Blue Ridge Parkway - Beware - Asheville Area

[Dr. Dolittle]

Spent most of today doing battle with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Got on it southbound just south of Spruce Creek and only rode a couple miles before encountering a barricade. No signs directing you where to go or anything. It was right in the Little Switzerland area. I lucked out and took Alt226 down off the mountain into whatever town is down there and then 70 to 80 back up the mountain. 226 and 80 were probably the most enjoyable riding I had all day.

Then just west of Asheville, the dreaded barricade reared its head again. This time I followed the orange detour signs for about 45 minutes, got back on the Parkway, and hit the last barricade of the day not 100 yards later! Took 276 off the mountain into Waynesville and called it a day.

I know Thunder in the Smokies is next week so rider beware!

 

[BeachJeep]

Why are the barricades up? Rockslides, bad roads or what?

 

[PetieJ]

Parkway closures:

Road Closures

 

[BeachJeep]

thanks, had not seen that site yet. Heading up in a couple of weeks.

 

[Dr. Dolittle]

Why are the barricades up? Rockslides, bad roads or what?

Well, they didn't think it was important enough to actually post the reasons! Just a big barricade with "Road Closed" on it. Just be sure you have a good North Carolina road map with you or a GPS so you can update your plans on the fly.

I also forgot to mention that there was a long stretch of Parkway where they were trimming back trees and bushes and there was LOTS of debris littering the road. Mostly nuisance leaves and twigs but some pretty big branches were often hiding in there, too.

As you probably know, the Parkway has no shoulders to begin with so when this stuff takes away most of your lane, you don't have a lot of options. I had to stop several times and wait for opposite lane traffic to clear so I could go over and use their part of the road.

Parkway closures:

Road Closures

It's a good tool for advance warning but it doesn't tell 100% of the story. Be prepared for closures that aren't on the website!

 

[hawghead]

Spent most of today doing battle with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Got on it southbound just south of Spruce Creek and only rode a couple miles before encountering a barricade. No signs directing you where to go or anything. It was right in the Little Switzerland area. I lucked out and took Alt226 down off the mountain into whatever town is down there and then 70 to 80 back up the mountain. 226 and 80 were probably the most enjoyable riding I had all day.

Then just west of Asheville, the dreaded barricade reared its head again. This time I followed the orange detour signs for about 45 minutes, got back on the Parkway, and hit the last barricade of the day not 100 yards later! Took 276 off the mountain into Waynesville and called it a day.

I know Thunder in the Smokies is next week so rider beware!

That's Spruce Pine N.C. and the Parkway will be cleaned of all the debris by the middle of May! I have a small shop in Pineola just off the Parkway and can tell you that it's clear from Linville to Blowing rock; but the Maggie and Cherokee rallies are the same week and i know the parkway should be clear because that is their bread and butter,and the bikers that visit there are a big part of their revenue

 

[jaceddie]

Thanks for the link.

 

[WHM1]

My wife and I were up there 2 weeks ago and spend the night at Mt Pisgah Inn. This winter was the worse in over 40 years according to the locals. A lot of snow and on top of that ice on top of the snow with winds several time over 100 mph. The trees are all broken at the top and it is really ugly. We ride the Parkway a lot every year and have gone from end to end many times. Some of the locals say the Parkway will not be completely open until the end of July this summer. The reasons for the poor signage that they work all day and do not know how far they will get with the clearing. We got on at 276 and it was only opened to the Mt Pisgah Inn a distance of only 3 miles.